Challenge Accepted......

[sfleinen]

Get a jump-start... Watch John Schmidt's videos!
I think his most informative one is "How I Run 100's"
... there's also a 112 run on accustats with commentary.
Then there's his 294 and 366 ball run, there's his commentary and I think Bill Marapolous joins in too.

One point he made that I found interesting is to try picking up the pace. You can't sit there and agonize
over every ball for a hundred shots in a row, or 200, or 400. it's too draining.

This almost runs a little contrary to some of the comments on here that suggest you must
bear down and stay extra focused and play super tight position and plan carefully.
To some extent john can play fast because he's seen every straight pool situation
on earth 1000 times and instantly knows what to do and where to go.

But honestly I think what he's saying is, let pick out the important balls, and of course be careful with them.
And always look to solve problems and pick off tricky ones.
But for the rest of the balls, try to let autopilot take over. He basically seems to play kind of fast'n'loose
for the first hundred balls, and only really bears down as he approaches big numbers like 200+.

There is a concept in straight pool called "the last five," and if you played 14.1, you'd know why. The autopilot part of the rack is definitely true. While you have 14 balls on the table (after pocketing the break ball), you can pretty much "solve" the pattern problem any way you want -- and most of us do just that -- sink into an "autopilot" mode where you are running balls, but at the same time, playing fairly tight position. "Fairly tight" means keeping control of whitey -- not letting it run all over the place, nor letting it crash into other balls unnecessarily. Try to solve the pattern with as many stop shots as you can, or, if you need, "to the cushion and out again." And absolutely, solve clusters and "lone ranger" balls (single balls all by their onesome at one end of the table) as soon as you can, but make sure you have insurance balls every step of the way.

However, as you get down to "the last five" balls on the table, you have to be extra careful. For here is where you're winding down to your break ball, and a mistake here means you're more than likely going to have to let your cue ball run around unnecessarily to get position. "The last five" is the optimum number of balls to begin your precise wind-down of the rack. Another way to put it, is this is the time to turn your autopilot off, maybe even take a step back, engage a little conscious thought as to the optimum way to run those balls out with little cue ball movement. Then, absolutely, turn the conscious mind off and run those balls out leaving a good breakball, according to plan.

Solving the last five pattern with what we in the straight pool circles call, "9-ball straight pool" (where the cue ball is running all over the place) is almost surely going to cause problems. Invariably, lost position (remember, position here is measured in inches, not "areas" as in short-rack rotation) will cause the run to end. And, bumping or crashing into balls at any time in the rack can be disastrous. Can't tell you how many times in the 14.1 Challenge (e.g. at SBE) we see that happen.

-Sean

 

[peteypooldude]

I started practicing to play 14.1 a few years back. I started working on break shots from Sigels tape( I forgot the name of it)but he covers the break and strategy. I can tell you this much... The high runs are in your break ball. I practiced the patterns and was way over 200 in a couple weeks. Add that break shot/ball and it's a different game. I never got to practice the game as a whole but I did find out where the roadblocks were at. When I'm way out of stroke(like right now) I will practice just running balls. I like to think of it as practicing not to miss which is not hard until you start leaving that break ball

 

[Tennesseejoe]

If you want to speed up your journey try this: Just throw 4 balls on the foot of the table, take cue ball in hand, and then run out setting up a break shot. Shoot the break shot. If you miss the break shot just set it up again to see if is really a good break shot.

Now just repeat the procedure by throwing out 4 balls. This is the most important part of the process...no need in just pocketing all the balls.

 

[The Renfro]

Today is now tomorrow....results please...

The pockets are about 4.75 on the Schmidt I played on last night but the pocket cuts and facings are a little screwy... I almost wish I had taken the camera but I wasn't expecting much....

The best I run I managed was 36 balls... I missed with 8 left when a ball hung up from hitting the facing but I had worked into a good end rack position and was in my pattern after the miss so I continued instead of starting over... At 32 I had shot myself into a hole by over running shape on a cluster several times in the rack and had to change my break ball.. I managed to develop a 2nd break ball but it wasn't perfect as far as the angle to the pocket... I had to lay the cueball close to the rail near the side pocket to go into the rack properly.... I fired the 2ball into the pocket and crushed the rack.. Well that's the way I see it... The 2 hit the facing way way way inside of the pocket where there is no way it should have stayed up but with the speed I had shot it at it just hung up and laughed at me....

My patterns were pretty weak and I had to shoot my way back into position several times.. There were 2 shots that come to mind where I had to come with something because I had overran shape one was a carom of a ball near the side and one was a combo in the side I had left alone in case I had to have a bail out...

If the 2 hadn't hung I might have gotten to 50 with the spread I got or I might have stuck myself within a few shots.... No way to ever know....

Biggest thing I realized was 40 seconds would never work for me as I spent forever forming my plans.. Going from looking ahead 3 balls to 5 after working backwards from the break ball was change... Constantly revising was definitely in the cards but I hope as I get a little more touch back there will be less of it....

All and all I think that 14.1 as a practice game is fun and frustrating.. Hopefully the fun stays and frustration lessons instead of vice versa....

Next session will be tomorrow and I seriously doubt I even get back to 36 unless the stars and planets align but you never know =) I think the newness of the game and a goal may keep me engaged for awhile so I'll add a post Sunday night....

Chris

 

[The Renfro]

Actually stopped by the poolroom earlier. I had forgotten my delta 13 last night and had to go back before it walked off.....

Only had time for 5 attempts and never made it to the 3rd rack... Will blame it on lack of time but I kept overunning my position by an inch or 4... Pinpoint position is definitely a requirement for this blasted game... Years of playing zonal is going to make it tough....

Chris

 

[dr9ball]

Chris, from what I can remember, you sound like a very strong player. In a short time, I could run into the 20's. I hardly ever play, but pretty sure I've gone around 30. The tricky part is knowing how to do the break shots from different spots, such that you don't stick yourself to the stack. I don't think a good high run should be too hard for you. For me, it was the constant focus that was hard to deal with, because just slacking off on one ball could bite back.

It's worth mentioning that running a high number of balls in practice is one thing. Running a big number in competition is another thing entirely. You will be more risky in practice as there is no penalty for missing or busting open the rack.

 

[David Marcus]

Actually stopped by the poolroom earlier. I had forgotten my delta 13 last night and had to go back before it walked off.....

Only had time for 5 attempts and never made it to the 3rd rack... Will blame it on lack of time but I kept overunning my position by an inch or 4... Pinpoint position is definitely a requirement for this blasted game... Years of playing zonal is going to make it tough....

Chris

Yes it will make it tough but overall it improves your position game and EVERY OTHER part of your game.

 

[jay helfert]

Chris, I've never run as many racks of Eight Ball or 9-Ball as you but I played a pretty solid overall game at one time. My peak years were from age 21 to 33, when I was playing and gambling almost on a daily basis. Sometimes when I went to the poolroom early in the day I would practice Straight Pool. It's a great practice game, as you must develop excellent cue ball control to run even two or three racks. Jude got that part right. Interesting to me that many of the top players of my generation (Mizerak, Sigel, Hopkins, Rempe, Varner, Fusco) were all good Straight Pool players. When you learn that game you can play any game!

When I was playing my best pool, I could frequently make runs in the 40's and 50's in practice, maybe two or three a day. I even had a few runs in the 60's. I only broke 70 once and that was in a money game. I will NEVER run 100 balls in my lifetime so I have a lot of respect for guys who have. Chris, if you manage a 100 ball run within a year you're way out my league. But we can still play some
Banks. :wink:

 

[Fatboy]

FWIW my hi run in 1P is higher than it is in 14.1. I might be the only pool player to have this problem.

 

[Fatboy]

There is a concept in straight pool called "the last five," and if you played 14.1, you'd know why. The autopilot part of the rack is definitely true. While you have 14 balls on the table (after pocketing the break ball), you can pretty much "solve" the pattern problem any way you want -- and most of us do just that -- sink into an "autopilot" mode where you are running balls, but at the same time, playing fairly tight position. "Fairly tight" means keeping control of whitey -- not letting it run all over the place, nor letting it crash into other balls unnecessarily. Try to solve the pattern with as many stop shots as you can, or, if you need, "to the cushion and out again." And absolutely, solve clusters and "lone ranger" balls (single balls all by their onesome at one end of the table) as soon as you can, but make sure you have insurance balls every step of the way.

However, as you get down to "the last five" balls on the table, you have to be extra careful. For here is where you're winding down to your break ball, and a mistake here means you're more than likely going to have to let your cue ball run around unnecessarily to get position. "The last five" is the optimum number of balls to begin your precise wind-down of the rack. Another way to put it, is this is the time to turn your autopilot off, maybe even take a step back, engage a little conscious thought as to the optimum way to run those balls out with little cue ball movement. Then, absolutely, turn the conscious mind off and run those balls out leaving a good breakball, according to plan.

Solving the last five pattern with what we in the straight pool circles call, "9-ball straight pool" (where the cue ball is running all over the place) is almost surely going to cause problems. Invariably, lost position (remember, position here is measured in inches, not "areas" as in short-rack rotation) will cause the run to end. And, bumping or crashing into balls at any time in the rack can be disastrous. Can't tell you how many times in the 14.1 Challenge (e.g. at SBE) we see that happen.

-Sean

thats a great post

 

[The Renfro]

Life got in the way all week which I was intent on keeping from happening but ohh well.. I only made it back out yesterday after playing last Saturday...

Consistency of my stroke and a slow wet table kept me from even getting thru the first rack.. The table was a 9' Diamond with double shimmed pockets and the break shots wouldn't even get a decent spread regardless of how well I struck them...

A few misses early kept me rattled badly and I kept missing on the final 4 balls having to over hit the shots to move whitey..If I even made it to the last 4..

After a bunch of failed attempts I just went back to working on stance and getting into the shot the same... I then packed it in and headed back to the other pool room where the 9' Schmidt is... First try I got to 22 before dogging it badly.... Then I had a friend come over and beat me down for several hours playing 1-pocket... Normally I would have been steaming over my quality of play but I am thinking of this as a rebuild from the feet up and will give myself a month of not getting mad... IF I can LOL

Next try will be tomorrow... I may or may not post videos since I am working on too many things at once and I know it's gotta be ugly......

Chris

 

[sfleinen]

Life got in the way all week which I was intent on keeping from happening but ohh well.. I only made it back out yesterday after playing last Saturday...

Consistency of my stroke and a slow wet table kept me from even getting thru the first rack.. The table was a 9' Diamond with double shimmed pockets and the break shots wouldn't even get a decent spread regardless of how well I struck them...

A few misses early kept me rattled badly and I kept missing on the final 4 balls having to over hit the shots to move whitey..If I even made it to the last 4..

After a bunch of failed attempts I just went back to working on stance and getting into the shot the same... I then packed it in and headed back to the other pool room where the 9' Schmidt is... First try I got to 22 before dogging it badly.... Then I had a friend come over and beat me down for several hours playing 1-pocket... Normally I would have been steaming over my quality of play but I am thinking of this as a rebuild from the feet up and will give myself a month of not getting mad... IF I can LOL

Next try will be tomorrow... I may or may not post videos since I am working on too many things at once and I know it's gotta be ugly......

Chris

Great post, Chris. Straight pool has a habit of doing that -- of forcing you to examine your mechanics / fundamentals -- because of straight pool's demand for consistency. If you've fundamentals that break down after 10 shots, in all likelihood, short-rack rotation isn't going to show it. But in 14.1, where every shot demand to be made, consistently, any vulnerabilities in your fundamentals will be shown a spotlight on. Also, any "laziness" in your approach to shots (and all of us have this), will be shown as well. In other words, after shooting 22 balls, everyone has a built-in "laziness factor" that will show itself -- whether that number be 22, or 50, or 100, or what-have-you.

Don't worry -- if you find yourself checking your fundamentals and are wondering, "is this normal? Or am I out on Pluto?" -- rest assured, it's normal. Everyone goes through that when taking up 14.1 seriously. Just bear through it -- put the effort in to solving your fundamentals questions, try everything you can, and just keep going. The place at the end of that tunnel is a very nice place, that you'd love to take a vacation in.

-Sean

 

[The Renfro]

Great post, Chris. Straight pool has a habit of doing that -- of forcing you to examine your mechanics / fundamentals -- because of straight pool's demand for consistency. If you've fundamentals that break down after 10 shots, in all likelihood, short-rack rotation isn't going to show it. But in 14.1, where every shot demand to be made, consistently, any vulnerabilities in your fundamentals will be shown a spotlight on. Also, any "laziness" in your approach to shots (and all of us have this), will be shown as well. In other words, after shooting 22 balls, everyone has a built-in "laziness factor" that will show itself -- whether that number be 22, or 50, or 100, or what-have-you.

Don't worry -- if you find yourself checking your fundamentals and are wondering, "is this normal? Or am I out on Pluto?" -- rest assured, it's normal. Everyone goes through that when taking up 14.1 seriously. Just bear through it -- put the effort in to solving your fundamentals questions, try everything you can, and just keep going. The place at the end of that tunnel is a very nice place, that you'd love to take a vacation in.

-Sean

Sean, I really appreciate your input as well as the input of the others who have posted here.... Right now my stroke seems like an old jalopy and I know there are fundamental flaws that I've played with for years... Rotation games and 8ball definitely don't expose them and in the past the cure was to hit more balls until I got the car to start reliably....

This time around I am going to attempt to build something new that is not power based... In the past everything was focused on the higher speeds required for 9ball and 10ball... I normally chose multiple rail position paths into zones to allow myself to hit the ball firm.. That stroke is not conducive to playing straight pool or 1pocket...

It definitely feels like I am on Pluto at the moment but I know it will pass... I just have to do a better job of getting to the practice table... I am ready for Mark Gregory to do the rails on my table but the GF is out of work so my table money has been going to the bills for now... One of the local rooms does 11-5 M-W-F for 5 bucks so I'll start trying to schedule my off days to coincide.....

Would be nice if there were instructors in the Knoxville area that I was willing to take lessons from.... I may see about getting Joe T to sneak to the Open this year or if Thorsten or Hunter are there I may try and schedule something... Roughly 2 months out from now so hopefully I will have a decent fundamentally sound stroke in the works by then....

I realized there was a problem when I couldn't make a single shot I setup 100 times in a row without breaking down due to focus or a setup flaw if I got up and down for every attempt.... I find this actually funny because I have worked with a bunch of people helping them correct issues but I can't see myself from the outside so it's getting tough to not be lazy and fall back into old habits.....

Will post again after tomorrow's session and hopefully I can start filming soon.. I may go ahead and start filming just to get outside opinions on what to address first... I already know "quit raising up" will be number 1 on the list... I actually intentionally raise up thru the shot on some shots as a speed control.. Likely this has to go since it adds complexity and a timing issue it's just gonna be a hard habit to break since it has been successful for me for quite some time....

Chris

 

[The Renfro]

Patterns are starting to take better shape and I am not dogging quite as many balls...

I switched to less of a piston and am concentrating on making sure I don't over wrist the stroke... Seems to be more solid AFTER setup than the piston... The piston required less setup as I just had to lay the cue down on line and push it thru but the inconsistencies it allowed in the distances I was setting up from the cueball likely were doing me no good...

Good news is this seems more accurate... Bad news I have lost a bunch of power... Hoping that is a short term issue since I kind of like having it for 9-10ball LOL....

Anyway I went out last night with a friend and we swapped out turns trying to get a decent run going...

I got to a good break ball 5 times..... I missed it once... Drew off the stack back up table, got unlucky twice and came up with no fricking shot... Stunned the next 2 break shots that I would normally have drawn and ended with with a scratch once and stuck in the pile... Not gonna tell you how many times I ended up on a bad break shot..

The swapping turns tended to be bad for taking time for analysis which hurts when you don't know a pattern instinctively when you glance at it.... It did help me feel the rhythm for several racks that went down in a barrage before I horked the break....

I didn't clean the table like I normally do before we started and that may have been part of the issue....

I think generally the firm draw break is supposed to get you a ball or 2 up by the sides isn't it? Just in case u end up up table and need something to get started on???

I think I could have gotten a little unlucky last night but I am going to continue to try and concentrate on the Hohman break where you draw off the rack up and back like I am trying to describe badly in words LOL... We didn't see a single side pocket break in Jersey so maybe they are becoming extinct.....

Chris

 

[Toncam]

Chris, its great to hear that the game is picking up interest, im sure you will enjoy it.
As far as getting to 100, best of luck to you and i hope you make it, but i got a feeling you will go through the extreme frustration period that goes along with the game,

Cursing over an inch here, an inch there, cursing over clusters, cursing over break balls that jaw, cursing over racks that break without leaving you anything, cursing over scratches in the middle of a run, etc....

Other than that, its a great game, so enjoy it.

P.S. - Did i mention that you will be doing a lot of cursing ?

 

[shinobi]

It's not that you get lazy, you never really do.

Believe me, I do :grin-square:

 

[Dan Harriman]

Break on through.

 

[Dan Harriman]

Exactly

I was playing in a straight pool league a couple summers in a row and hated every minute of it lol until last year. I would play super conservative and matches would be boring and take forever. I would make the open balls then get into a safety battle. I was playing a bad player one night and thought I'm not playing another 2 and a half hour safety fest. If I'm going to play this damn game I'm going to learn something from it. So I started playing as it's supposed to be played setting up my break outs and string racks together. Guess what? I got a lot better quickly and i started enjoying the game! It's amazing how much better my ability to break out and understand where to hit to clusters and what there going to do when I do has gotten. It's the game of champions for a reason.

Break on through.

 

[lee brett]

Good luck Chris. John Schmidt gave me a few tips while i was watching the 14.1 at the Riv a few years ago, key ball, break out ball etc. So i had a go and ran 91.. Reminded me of playing snooker and developing the reds.

With the right patterns and which balls to leave you sould do OK.

Ps- Put your cue down and answer your phone